Hello, my name is ___________, and I am an interviewer with Belden Opinion Research. May I please speak with ___________. We are conducting a survey for the National School Boards Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia (IF NEEDED: a separate organization affiliated with the National School Boards Association). We are talking to a random sample of 100 school board members and your name was chosen at random. The interview is about issues confronting urban schools, and your answers are completely confidential. The research will be published but your individual answers are confidential. Your name will not be used in any way. May I take a few minutes of your time now (IF NOT. . . ) or schedule a time to call you back? (IF NEEDED, SAY: The interview should take less than 15 minutes.)(IF NECESSARY ARRANGE FOR A CALL BACK AND RECORD DATE AND TIME. REPEAT INTRO. AS NECESSARY) 1. What do you think is the biggest issue facing your community today? Crime and drugs, the economy and jobs, education, or the quality of the environment? CRIME AND DRUGS— 17%Please tell me how good a job you think each of the following is doing. If you don't know enough about any of them, just say so. First would you say that ________ is [are] doing an excellent, good, fair, poor, or very poor job? [ROTATE 2- 6] Exclnt2. your local government 13%3. the public school board where you live 18%4. the teachers in public schools in your community 20%5. principals in public schools in your community 20%6. the superintendent of public schools in your community 35%7. Now I have some more questions about public schools. What grade would you give the PUBLIC SCHOOLS in your community? A, B, C, D, or F? A— 13%How good a job do you feel YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS are doing at __________________? An excellent, good, fair, poor, or very poor job? [ROTATE 8-22] Exclnt8. hiring and keeping high quality teachers 10%9. hiring and keeping high quality principals in the schools 19%10. hiring and keeping a high quality superintendent 32%11. maintaining discipline among students 7%12. keeping violence and drugs out of schools 16%13. maintaining high academic standards for all students 9%14. teaching children the essential subjects like reading, writing, and basic math 12%15. teaching students the kinds of skills they will need in the workplace 5%16. preparing students for college 22%17. getting parents involved in meaningful ways with their children's education 11%18. providing enough up-to-date textbooks 14%19. teaching computer skills 16%20. maintaining school buildings in clean and safe condition 28%21. keeping class size small enough 15%22. teaching children who don't speak English when they first come to school 18%23. Do you think this statement is true or false: In the community where you live, children in WEALTHY neighborhoods have better public schools than children in LOW-INCOME neighborhoods. Do you feel it is very (true/false) or somewhat so? VERY TRUE— 22%24. Do you feel that in the STATE where you live students in URBAN areas have the better public schools, that students in the SUBURBAN areas and SMALL TOWNS have better schools, or that there is the same quality of public schools in urban and non-urban areas? URBAN BETTER25. Do you feel that where you live, in the public school system WHITE students have advantages that minority students don't have, or MINORITIES have advantages whites don't have, or that minorities and whites have the same advantages in your local public schools? WHITE ADVANTAGED— 26%26. Do you feel the people and businesses from the community where you live are adequately involved with public schools, or that the schools have too little support from the larger community around them? ADEQUATELY INVOLVED— 64%27. Who makes most of the policies that determine how your local public schools are run: the superintendent of schools, principals, the school board, the teachers, the city or county government, the governor or someone else? [MULTIPLE RESPONSE OK] SUPERINTENDENT— 26%28. Who do you think the public believes SHOULD make the policies for the schools: the superintendent of schools, principals, the school board, the teachers, the city or county government, the governor or someone else? [MULTIPLE RESPONSE OK] SUPERINTENDENT— 10%29. As far as you know, are most people in your community aware that there is a school board? YES— 89%30. School boards generally have a great many responsibilities and many needs are placed before them. In your opinion, is the school board on which you sit making decisions that will ultimately raise student achievement, or not? RAISE— 92%Here is a list of ideas that SOME people have suggested would help students learn more in public schools. I'd like you to consider your own local schools. Think of a scale, where ZERO means something would not be at all effective, five would mean it would be SOMEWHAT effective, and ten means it would be EXTREMELY effective in really increasing how much students learn. First how would you rate ____________ in terms of how effective it would be in increasing students' learning? Remember you can pick ANY number, so please consider ALL the numbers -- zero, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. [ROTATE 31-45] % saying 1031. Sending teachers to get more training every few years so they keep their skills up to date 37%32. Hiring more teachers and reducing class size in the public schools 40%33. Holding teachers accountable for student learning, and rewarding them with more pay and seniority when their students do well 34%34. Putting more computers and computer- trained teachers into the public schools 21%35. Providing students more up-to-date textbooks 26%36. Providing more materials and supplies for classes and labs 26%37. Requiring parents to meet with their children's teachers twice a year at times convenient for the parents' schedules 44%38. Giving parents specific guidelines about how to become involved in their children's homework 45%39. Raising academic standards in public schools, that is continuing to make the curriculum tougher and insisting that children meet high academic standards 37%40. Bringing more discipline and safety into the schools 35%41. Teaching respect for racial, ethnic and social diversity 35%42. Building more school buildings 19%43. Improving the existing school buildings so they are clean and safe 28%44. Providing summer school, after-school programs, and tutoring to students who are behind academically 52%45. Getting business people more involved as volunteers and mentors 27%Now I have a few questions to help us classify your questionnaire.
D1. How many years have you served on the
school board? 1-3— 31%D2. Are members of the school board you serve on elected or appointed? ELECTED— 95%D3. Do you have any children? YES— 93%D4. Do they now or did any of them attend public, parochial or private independent school? [MULTIPLE REPLY OKAY] TOO YOUNG— 2%D5. What was the last grade of school you completed? [READ CODES IF NECESSARY] LESS THAN HS GRAD— --D6. In what year were you born? 19_______D7. Age 18-24— --D8. Are you currently employed, unemployed but looking for a job, retired, a student, a homemaker, or something else? (IF MORE THAN ONE ASK:) How do you spend most of your time? EMPLOYED— 61%D9. And what is your occupation? EDUCATOR— 27%D10. Would you say you are white, black or African-American, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American, or something else? WHITE— 62%Those are all my questions. I wonder if I may have your initials in case my supervisor wants to verify my work? Thank you very much for your help. Good night/day.
Belden Russonello & Stewart |
